"Michael Webber Beck, from Cumbria, took her own life in her room at Larkhill Camp in Wiltshire in December 2021, five months after Webber's assault. At the end of Beck's inquest in February, the coroner, Nicholas Rheinberg, said Beck's complaint about being sexually assaulted during the exercise should have been reported to the police and the failure to do so breached army policy. He said the army's failure to take appropriate action more than minimally contributed to her death."
"Beck pushed Webber, then a 39-year-old battery sergeant major, away and she spent the night locked in her car, hiding from him. Judge Advocate General Alan Large told Webber: She had the courage and good sense to tell you to stop and told you to go to bed, but you persisted to the extent she considered she wouldn't be safe from you even if she went back to her own accommodation."
Michael Webber assaulted Gunner Jaysley Beck during a July 2021 training exercise in Hampshire when she was 19. Webber engaged Beck in a drinking game called Last Man Standing, touched her thigh and tried to kiss her. Beck pushed him away and spent the night locked in her car. Beck reported the incident to senior officers but the police were not informed and she was encouraged to accept a letter of apology. Beck later endured persistent texts from a line manager and did not report them. Beck died by suicide in December 2021 at Larkhill Camp, five months after the assault. The coroner found the failure to report breached army policy and more than minimally contributed to her death. Webber, who was promoted after the assault, was sentenced to six months in prison.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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